FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE January 26, 2015 CONTACT: RFD-TV Public Relations [email protected] or 307-760-7099 INFR champions get chance to ride for $2.5M . NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The defending Indian National Finals Rodeo champions in each event have received invitations to compete in The American Semi-Finals, Feb. 18-22 in the historic Fort Worth (Texas) Stockyards. The top finishers at the half-million-dollar Semi-Finals in Fort Worth will then advance to compete against the best in the world during RFD-TV’s $2 million rodeo, The American presented by Polaris Ranger, on March 1 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. “Golf has the Masters; football has the Super Bowl and rodeo has The American,” said eight-time world champion cowboy Larry Mahan. “This event is about celebrating the greatest sport and the greatest nation. It's about our Western heritage of community, traditional values, family, friends and neighbors, excellence, hard work and love of country.” Organizers not only invited the 2014 INFR champions in each event, but also the champions from the National High School Finals Rodeo and College National Finals Rodeo. These cowboys and cowgirls will join contestants who earned the right to compete at The American Semi-Finals earlier this season at affiliate events. The Semi-Finals total payout has doubled from last year, offering a first-place cash prize in some events of up to $35,000. Immediately following the Semi-Finals on February 22, contestants who advanced to The American are invited to take part in the Sponsor Patch Auction held inside Billy Bob’s Texas, which adjoins the Cowtown Coliseum. That night, Superior Livestock will sell the space on the back of each American contestant to the highest bidder. Anyone can register to bid, and RFD-TV doesn’t keep a dollar of the proceeds. Of each winning bid, 85 percent goes into the cowboy or cowgirl’s pocket and 15 percent will be donated to one of three nonprofits dedicated to keeping Western heritage alive – the Texas Cowboy Hall of Fame, the National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame and the National Cowboy Western and Heritage Museum. A week later, during the rodeo in AT&T Stadium, the winning bidders will be invited to watch from custom owner’s boxes specially placed on the arena floor where the Dallas Cowboys typically take the field for football games. If a patch owner’s contestant wins an event, that owner will also be invited onstage to receive awards alongside the rodeo champion. Tickets for The American Semi-Finals are available for $40 per single day or a three-performance package of $100, not including taxes. They can be purchased at the Cowtown Coliseum box office, at stockyardsrodeo.com, or americanrodeo.com. Tickets for RFD-TV’s The American, presented by Polaris Ranger, and the PBR’s Iron Cowboy VI on Feb. 28 are on sale at the AT&T Stadium Box Office, all Ticketmaster locations and at americanrodeo.com. Prices for each event range from $20 to $150, not including taxes. ### Notes to Editors: About RFD-TV’s THE AMERICAN Presented by Polaris RANGER: Taking place at Dallas Cowboys’ AT&T Stadium on March 1, 2015, with an estimated attendance of more than 75,000, RFD-TV’s The American is the richest single-day event in the entire history of rodeo. With $2.5 million on the line, the best athletes in the world will gather in Dallas to battle for the biggest single paycheck of their lives. The American invites the top 10 athletes from the 2014 PRCA, WPRA and PBR world standings and pits them against underdogs who advance from the American Semi-Finals, held Feb. 18-22 in Fort Worth. If a nationally ranked athlete wins, the prize is $100,000, but if a qualifier from the Semifinals wins The American, that contestant shares in the $1 million bonus prize money. The American will be aired live on March 1 via RFD-TV. For more information, please visit: www.americanrodeo.com and www.RFDTV.com. Follow us on Twitter @RFDTVAMERICAN and find us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/RFDTVTheAMERICAN. About Rural Media Group, Inc. (RMG): Rural Media Group, Inc. is the world’s leading provider of multimedia content dedicated to the rural and western lifestyle. Its flagship network, RFD-TV, is the nation’s first 24-hour television network with programming focused on agriculture, equine and the rural lifestyle, along with traditional country music and entertainment. RMG networks are distributed into more than 63-million homes worldwide by ® DBS, telco and cable systems including DISH Network, DIRECTV , Comcast, Verizon FiOS TV, AT&T U-Verse, Mediacom, Charter, Optimum, Brighthouse, Suddenlink, Time Warner, Cox, and more than 600 independent rural cable systems. Corporate headquarters are in Omaha, Neb., and production operations are in Nashville, Tenn. For more information, visit www.rfdtv.com or www.familynet.com.